The Board of Nurse Registration and Nursing Education is charged with protecting the health, safety and welfare of the people of Rhode Island. The Board, through enforcement of statutes and regulations, safeguards the people from unauthorized, unqualified, and improper application of services by individuals in the practice of nursing. http://www.health.ri.gov/hsr/professions/nurses.php (accessed on 22.04.2009)

The Board of Nurse Registration and Nursing Education is a division of the Office of Health Professional Regulation in the Rhode Island Department of Health. Rules and Regulations provide a legal framework for the Board Section 5-34-7 (1) of the General Laws of Rhode Island http://www2.sec.state.ri.us/dar/regdocs/released/pdf/DOH/5128.pdf (accessed on 22.04.2009)

Health System

Health care in the United States is mainly provided in the private sector (both for profit and for non-profit) and to a lesser degree by public funding for the poor, elderly, disabled, children and veterans. The United States does not have a universal health care system.

In the United States expenditure on health care in actual dollars and as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) and on a per-capita basis is greater, than in any other nation in the world. The World Health Organisation reports that in 2005 the US total expenditure on health as 15 % of GDP and that the total expenditure on health per capita was $US6350. http://www.who.int/countries/usa/en/ (accessed on 22.04.2009).

In 2006, around 84% of US citizens had some form of health insurance and about 16% of the population, or 47 million Americans were without health insurance coverage. http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf (accessed on 22.04.2009).

The number of acute care hospital beds in the United Statesin 2000 was 2.9 per 1 000 population. Bed numbers have declined and this coincides with a reduction in average length of stays in hospitals and an increase in day-surgery patients. The United States has among the lowest average lengths of stay for most procedures. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/20/48/16502658.pdf (accessed on 22.04.2009).